Unruly or Bad Passengers on Planes Now a "Significant" Problem

Back in 2007, the world’s airlines reported fewer than 500 incidents of unruly passengers. While bad behavior is still rare, the International Air Transport Association says it’s on the increase and is now a “significant problem.”

8,000 Bad Passengers in 2013

According to the IATA, there were 8,000 unruly passenger incidents last year. Often, alcohol is a factor; as the association’s report stated, “Intoxication, often resulting from alcohol already consumed before boarding, ranks high among factors linked to these incidents.”

A SkyWest passenger who believed he was a space alien and asked to fly the plane

A Spirit passenger who propositioned a flight attendant then groped her

An Iceland Air passenger who became so obnoxiously drunk, fellow passengers duct taped him to his seat

Solution: Better Laws

As the IATA points out, sometime unruly passengers go unpunished because of multiple jurisdictions as planes fly from country to country, so the organization is asking governments around the world to work together to extend the legal jurisdiction of unruly passenger incidents to the territory in which the aircraft lands.